Canada’s 2021 Parents and Grandparents Program: What To Do If You Get Invited

Colin Singer
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Canada’s 2021 Parents and Grandparents Program: What To Do If You Get Invited

Canada immigration news: A record 30,000 new applications will be received in 2021 for the Parents and Grandparents Program, Canada has announced.

That will bring to 40,000 the number of applications received this year after the 10,000 delayed from 2020 due to COVID-19.

A new round of Invitations to Apply will be sent out over two weeks from September 20, 2021, with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) selecting from those who submitted interest to sponsor forms in fall 2020.

Candidates who receive ITAs have 60 days to submit a full application. The deadline will be marked clearly on the ITA. ITAs will be sent out using the email included on the interest to sponsor form.

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Parents and Grandparents Program: Application Process

Once the ITA is received, there are two applications to complete:

  1. Application to become a sponsor.
  2. Application for permanent residence from the parents or grandparents.

Both applications can be submitted online at the same time.

IRCC advises candidates not to start filling out an application unless they receive an ITA, to avoid using outdated forms or old instructions. Those who apply without receiving an ITA will not be refunded the application fee.

IRCC says more information on how the application process works will be available in the coming weeks.

Applicants who live in Quebec must follow that province’s steps to sponsor their parents and grandparents.

Citizens sponsoring their parents or grandparents need:

  • The date they became a Canadian citizen.
  • Their UCI or client ID number.

Both are on the back of the citizenship certificate.

Application Fees

Application fees paid online, include:

  • Processing fees for the sponsor, the people being sponsored and their dependents.
  • Right of Permanent Residence Fee
  • Biometrics fee

Biometrics Fee

A biometrics fee is payable when the application is submitted. However, biometrics are collected after the application is submitted.

Other Fees

Candidate may also need to pay fees to third parties for:

  • Medical exam.
  • Police certificate.

Information Submitted During Processing

The following documents are not required to be submitted with the application, but will be requested during processing:

  • Medical exams.
  • Police certificate.
    • Police certificates are required for the people being sponsored and each family member 18 or older who isn’t already a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. They are valid one year from the date of issue.
  • Biometrics.

Changes of Situation During Processing

Candidates must inform IRCC if any of the following applies to them during processing:

  • Birth or adoption of children.
  • Marriage or divorce.
  • Death of an applicant or dependant.

Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Get More Protection After Abuse Reports

Colin Singer
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0
Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Get More Protection After Abuse Reports

Canada immigration news: After a government tip line received hundreds of reports of abuse earlier this year, Canada is upping the level of protection it affords to temporary foreign workers.

“The Government of Canada takes the safety and dignity of foreign workers very seriously,” said Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino in a statement. 

“Everyone deserves a work environment where they are safe and their rights are respected. These amendments will help us further improve worker protection and strengthen our ability to ensure employers follow the rules governing both the International Mobility Program and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.”

Read More Canada Immigration News

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In mid-March this year, Service Canada introduced live agent support to its pre-existing tip line to assist temporary foreign workers in reporting abuse, offering services in English, French, Spanish and more than 200 other languages.

Before the arrival of the live agents, callers could only leave a voicemail message in either English or French.

Now, though, callers who reach out for help through the tip line during hours of operation and do not speak either English or French can speak with a live Service Canada agent and a qualified interpreter. 

Tip Line Has Interpreters For More Than 200 Languages

The interpreter stays on the call to provide real-time, accurate interpretation in the caller’s language of choice.

The results of the improved service for temporary foreign workers has been a growing awareness of the challenges they face.

This week, Ottawa decided to tackle those challenges with 14 regulatory amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Temporary Foreign Workers).

Under the changes, Canada is improving the protections for temporary foreign workers by requiring employers provide these workers with:

  • information about their rights in Canada;
  • reasonable access to healthcare services, and;
  • health insurance when needed.

Employers are also being forbidden from reprisals against workers who come forward with complaints or charging recruitment fees to workers. Employers will also be held responsible for the actions of the recruiters who provide them with temporary foreign workers.

Canada Getting Tough With Employers By Adding Muscle To Inspections

Ottawa is also cracking down on employers by upping its inspections and allowing those who conduct these inspections to get documents from third parties, like banks and payroll companies that provide services to these employers. 

Officials who assess applications from new employers for temporary foreign workers are also being given the authority to put a pause on Labour Market Impact Assessments if they suspect something is amiss.

“The health and safety of temporary foreign workers continues to be a key priority for the Government of Canada,” said Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough. 

“While we have made progress, there continues to be gaps. We know that temporary foreign workers need better information about their rights, and better health and safety protections. Workers also need to be protected from reprisal if they come forward with a complaint, and bad actors need to be prevented from participating in the program.”

Each year, Canada welcomes up to 60,000 foreign agricultural workers. They make up about 60 per cent of all workers coming into the country under the TFWP. 

So far this year, Canada has welcomed more than 41,000 such workers despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) is the stream most commonly used by agricultural producers. In 2019, about 30,500 work permits were issued under the SAWP, of which 9,100, roughly a third, arrived from participating Caribbean countries. The remaining 70 per cent were from Mexico. 

They tend to go to work on farms in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. 

Parents and Grandparents Program: How Many New Permanent Residents?

Colin Singer
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0
Parents and Grandparents Program: How Many New Permanent Residents?

Canada immigration news: In the wake of it being dealt a devastating blow during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ottawa is attempting to re-build its Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) by lowering the income needed by sponsors and increasing the number of invitations to apply. 

Back in 2015, the program was responsible for 15,490 new permanent residents to Canada, with the country’s most populous province, Ontario, getting the lion’s share of these new arrivals. 

Then, over the course of the next four years, the PGP grew, resulting in 17,040 new permanent residents in 2016, then 20,495 the following year, dipping down a bit in 2018 to 18,030 but finishing off 2019 strong with 22,010 newcomers.

Read More Canada Immigration News

Canada’s Parents and Grandparents Program: All You Need To Know
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By then, the last full year before the pandemic, the PGP had grown by 42.1 per cent, or 6,520 new permanent residents annually.

COVID-19, though, led Canada to close its borders to non-essential travel and other countries followed suit, leading to massive drops in overall immigration to the country. 

COVID-19, Border Closures Decimated Parents and Grandparents Program

In a single year, the number of new permanent residents under the PGP plummeted by almost 52.5 per cent to 10,455. The number of newcomers under the program last year was only a smidgeon more than two-thirds of the figure seen five years before, in 2015.

It might have seemed like things couldn’t get worse for the program – but they did.

In the first five months of this year, only 3,335 new permanent residents to Canada arrived under the program. 

That’s a drop in the average number of new permanent residents to Canada under the PGP this year of 23.4 per cent over the already-abysmally low results of 2020.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is tackling the challenge of the program’s poor performance this year. Earlier this month, the IRCC announced it will accept an additional 30,000 applications under the 2021 PGP.

That means a record of up to 40,000 applications will be accepted this year when added to the 10,000 already received.

The new invitations to apply will be issued over two weeks from Sept. 20 to those who have previously submitted interest-to-sponsor forms.

Immigration Minister Says Pandemic Highlights Importance of Family

“The importance of family has never been clearer than during the pandemic,” said Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino in announcing the changes earlier this month.

“That is why we are delivering on our commitment to help more families reunite in Canada. 

“By strengthening the Parents and Grandparents Program, inviting a record number of sponsors to apply, and by adjusting our requirements to adapt to the current times, we are once again proving our commitment to helping Canadian families stay together, and thrive together.”

Those adjusted requirements include accepting that the sponsors’ incomes can now be the minimum necessary – instead of the usual minimum plus 30 per cent – and that Employment Insurance and COVID-19 benefits can also count towards the sponsors’ incomes.

“This measure will ensure that applicants are not penalized for losing income during the pandemic,” the IRCC noted in a statement.

Those invited to apply have 60 days to complete a full application, through the IRCC’s new Permanent Resident Digital Intake tool.

Sponsors To Be Sent Invitation Emails In September

Potential sponsors should check their e-mail from Sept. 20 to see if they have received an invitation. They will also be able to check online.

Selected potential sponsors will have their income assessed for tax years 2020, 2019 and 2018. This is the same as those who applied as part of the 2020 intake.

Anyone wishing to sponsor a parent or grandparent under the PGP must meet the following criteria:

  • be at least 18 years old;
  • live in Canada;
  • be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or be a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act, and;
  • have enough money to support the people you want to sponsor.

Those not lucky enough to receive an invitation should consider the Parents and Grandparents Super Visa, which allows a parent or grandparent to visit Canada for up to two years at a time. A super visa allows multiple entries for up to 10 years.

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